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| The president of France celebrated the success of Clair Obscur as a triumph of French art. (Screen capture) |
When making our selections, we view the Hugo Awards as being an institution that was designed to recognize story first and foremost. Although gameplay is a factor in our votes for this category, it is secondary to the quality of narrative and the artistry of how that narrative is expressed.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, however, offers no such tradeoffs, taking the framework of a standard role-playing game (RPG) and evolving it in ways that reinvigorates one's faith in the format. It is first-rate fantasy storytelling combined with well-balanced and compulsively playable action.
The story is set in a world where every year, people who have reached a certain age suddenly die, and every year that age gets younger. Now that the population is dying at the age of 33, an expedition is organized to try and find out why and to confront the villainous Paintress who is thought to be responsible.
One of the aspects of Clair Obscur that should be highlighted is the design. Rather than hewing to very standard, anime-inspired art, the game designers took inspiration from sources such as Belle Époque, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Symbolism, Dark Romanticism, and Surrealism. The resulting, eclectic art style makes gameplay encounters feel both unnerving and alien; emphasizing how little the player knows about their enemy.
Unlike some other RPGs, Clair Obscur offers a fairly lean cast of characters, including earnest and loyal Maelle and fanciful giant Esquie. However, this cast is well developed enough to offer satisfying gameplay and story telling. The characters’ interactions feel organic and the relationships develop naturally. Each party member gets fleshed out through vignettes in the game’s camp, developing their relationships with the game’s main character and each other.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, however, offers no such tradeoffs, taking the framework of a standard role-playing game (RPG) and evolving it in ways that reinvigorates one's faith in the format. It is first-rate fantasy storytelling combined with well-balanced and compulsively playable action.
The story is set in a world where every year, people who have reached a certain age suddenly die, and every year that age gets younger. Now that the population is dying at the age of 33, an expedition is organized to try and find out why and to confront the villainous Paintress who is thought to be responsible.
One of the aspects of Clair Obscur that should be highlighted is the design. Rather than hewing to very standard, anime-inspired art, the game designers took inspiration from sources such as Belle Époque, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Symbolism, Dark Romanticism, and Surrealism. The resulting, eclectic art style makes gameplay encounters feel both unnerving and alien; emphasizing how little the player knows about their enemy.
Unlike some other RPGs, Clair Obscur offers a fairly lean cast of characters, including earnest and loyal Maelle and fanciful giant Esquie. However, this cast is well developed enough to offer satisfying gameplay and story telling. The characters’ interactions feel organic and the relationships develop naturally. Each party member gets fleshed out through vignettes in the game’s camp, developing their relationships with the game’s main character and each other.
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| It's clear that Clair Obscur directors Guillaume Broche and Maxance Playez understand and love the history of this type of RPG game. (Image via liesofp_official Instagram) |
This cast eschews much of the adolescent power fantasies that have been staples of video game narratives for far too long. This is, instead, a story about adults who are facing their mortality and decide that it is better to carry on in a quest for the sake of future generations. There are discussions about the dangers of optimism, the morality of euthanasia, and the value of perseverance in the face of declining health.
At first glance, Clair Obscur’s gameplay might seem slightly antiquated. Turn-based combat is so out-of-fashion that most flagship titles from AAA studios (such as Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy series) have done away with the whole concept. Clair Obscur’s designers have breathed new life into this mechanic, however, through a combination of balanced options and attention to detail. It’s a turn-based system with real-time dodges and parries that make the action energetic and exciting. This may not be a complete reinvention of the system, but it is a thoughtful implementation of it.
This actually points to one of the aspects of Clair Obscur that is worth celebrating; it is a mid-budget title, something that has become rare in the era of AAA vs indie. French games developer Sandfall Interactive doesn’t have the resources of a gaming titan like Electronic Arts or Sony Interactive — but neither is it a tiny indie studio putting out titles solely via Steam or itch.io. They have the resources to devote to a project like this, and the nimbleness of a smaller studio to take some risks with it. It’s a subsector of games development that has unfortunately become less common in the industry.
The people at Sandfall Interactive seem to really care about the storytelling traditions of RPGs. They created a work that is in conversation with classics of the genre, adding thoughtfully to the canon. We look forward to seeing what Sandfall Interactive does next.
At first glance, Clair Obscur’s gameplay might seem slightly antiquated. Turn-based combat is so out-of-fashion that most flagship titles from AAA studios (such as Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy series) have done away with the whole concept. Clair Obscur’s designers have breathed new life into this mechanic, however, through a combination of balanced options and attention to detail. It’s a turn-based system with real-time dodges and parries that make the action energetic and exciting. This may not be a complete reinvention of the system, but it is a thoughtful implementation of it.
This actually points to one of the aspects of Clair Obscur that is worth celebrating; it is a mid-budget title, something that has become rare in the era of AAA vs indie. French games developer Sandfall Interactive doesn’t have the resources of a gaming titan like Electronic Arts or Sony Interactive — but neither is it a tiny indie studio putting out titles solely via Steam or itch.io. They have the resources to devote to a project like this, and the nimbleness of a smaller studio to take some risks with it. It’s a subsector of games development that has unfortunately become less common in the industry.
The people at Sandfall Interactive seem to really care about the storytelling traditions of RPGs. They created a work that is in conversation with classics of the genre, adding thoughtfully to the canon. We look forward to seeing what Sandfall Interactive does next.
